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This paper is a discussion of a periphrastic passive in Chontal Mayan, a construction I claim is a result of contact with Spanish. The purpose of this paper is to describe this passive and to compare and contrast its function with that of the more common morphological passive. This paper will explore issues of grammaticalization as well as typological studies of the passive to put these hypotheses into a proper diachronic and synchronic perspective. A tentative proposal is drawn up for the functions of the Chontal passive and passive-like constructions, as well as indications for further research to better establish these claims.
Abstract
Diurnal refuge-site selection was studied in eleven free-ranging brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis) in tropical forest on the island of Guam. These nocturnal and mostly arboreal snakes were tracked using implanted radio-transmitters. A vegetation survey of the study site was performed to determine if brown treesnakes non-randomly select certain plants for refuge-sites, and thermal profiles of representative refuge sites were obtained with Hobo data loggers. Brown treesnakes preferentially used Pandanus crowns for refuge-sites. Although Pandanus represents a small proportion (3.6%) of the forest, most snakes used Pandanus most of the time for refuge. The thermal characteristics of Pandanus were comparable to those of other refuge-sites. We speculate that features of Pandanus that provide basking opportunities and moist microhabitats may be important for brown treesnakes. As Pandanus is widely distributed throughout the natural range of the brown treesnake, this genus may represent an important refuge-site for this species.